Road marker



y 5, 1931- H. E. RAIFE ,230

ROAD MARKER Filed April 15, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet l May 5, 1931.

H. E. RAIFE 1,804,230

ROAD MARKER Filed April 15, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 H. E. RAIFE ROAD MARKER May 5, 1931.

Filed April 15, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented May 5, 1931 UNIT!) STATES manna HARRY E. BAIFE, OF WILKES-BAKER PENNSYLVANIA ROAD EIARKER Application filed April 15, 1930. Serial No. 444,504.

This invention relates to newv and useful improvements in road or highway markers and more particularly to a device of this character which is adapted for use in marking a center line on the road or highway .on curves, hills or at any desired point on said road or highway.

The primary object of t 1is invention is to provide, in a manner as hereinafter set forth,

a road marker of the aforementioned character which is adapted to be expeditiously and detachably coupled to a stationary part of a vehicle, such as the running board of an automobile and which may be convenientl operated by the operator of said automobile.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a road marker of the character described embodying a rotary marking wheel which is operatively mounted on the supporting frame in a manner to compensate for unevenness in the surface of the road or highway in a manner to assure the making of a continuous line thereon.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a road marker of the character set forth embodying valve controlled means for supplying marking fluid to the periphery of the marking wheel and the invention still further contemplates manually operable means for shifting the marking wheel to inoperative position out of engagement with the surface of the road or highway, said means operatively connected to the fluid sup ply means in a manner'to simultaneously cut oil the flow of fluid to the marking wvheel when said wheel is raised to inoperative position.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a road marker which will be comparatively simple in construction, strong, durable efficient in its use and which may be manu factured at low cost and connected to the running board of an automobile without altering a construction of said running board.

7 All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of the invention may become apparent from a study of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein Figure l is a view in side elevation of a road marker constructed in accordance with this invention operatively connected to the running board of an automobile.

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof, a portion only of the running board of the vehicle being shown and with the fluid supply tank also omitted.

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken substantially on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure l is a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view taken substantially on the line l l of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view taken substantially on the line 55 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a detail view in bottom plan showing the distributing pan which is op- Y eratively associated with the. marking wheel for spreading the fluid over the periphery thereof.

Figure 7 is a detail view in end elevation of the fluid distributing pan.

Figure 8 is a sectional view through the marking wheel taken substantially on the line 88 of Figure 3.

I Figure 9 is a detail view showing the dis charge nozzle from which the marking fluid I passes into the distributing pan.

Figure 10 is a detail view showing the fluid control valve which is operatively connected tothe marking wheel elevating mechanism for simultaneous actuation therewith.

Figure 11 is a detail view in perspective showing the marking wheel elevating device.

Figure '12 is a fragmentary detail view showing the means of slidably mounting the 'device illustrated in Figure 11 on the frame,

said frame being shown in horizontal section.

Figure 13 is a horizontal sectional view through the marking fluid tank taken substantially on the line 13-13 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the reference character 1 designates generally a conventional automobile from whicl the left front door has been removed and 2 designates the left running board of said automobile.

As illustrated to advantage in Figures 2 and 5 of the drawings, a pair of angular brackets 3 are mounted in longitudinally spaced relation transversely on the outer marginal portion of the running board 2. Earn of said brackets includes a vertically disposed arm which is longiti'idinally slotted and a horizontally disposed arm which is also longitudinally slotted and disposed transversely on the running board to which the same is adjustably secured through the medium of the anchoring bolt 4 in a manner to permit lateral adjustment of said brackets.

The reference numeral 5 designates a pair of outwardly extending supporting brackets each of which is provided with a vertically disposed longitudinally slotted arm 6 which adjustably secured to the upstanding arm of the respective brackets 3 through the med ium of the bolts 7. The outwardly extending horizontally disposed arms 8 of the brackets 5 are also longitudinally slotted and mounted for lateral adjustment on said arms 8 in a substantially rectangular, metallic SlifilQtOirihfiruu ucsiguuteCl generally reference numeral 9. The frame 9 is provided, adjacent its opposite end, and in its lower side, with the cross strips 10 and securing bolts 11 extend through said strips 10 and the slots of the adjacent arms 8 for securing the frame 9 in adjusted position thereon.

At an intern'iediate point, the frame 9 has mounted thereon at its opposite sides a pair of spaced, parallel, vertically disposedv bars 12 between which the opposite end portions of a hub structure 13 are slidably mounted for vertical movement. As best seen in Figure -1- of the drawings, the hub structure 13 includes a transverse stationary shaft 14 upon which is rotatably mounted a marking wheel 15 upon the periphery of which is provided a pliable covering 16. A bracket 17 depends from the f 'ame- 9 and a coil spring 18 connected to said bracket and to the shaft 14: in a manner to yieldingly urge the hub structure and the marking wheel 15 downwardly with respect to the frame 9.

For the purpose of elevating the marking wheel 15 to inoperative position on the frame 9. a pair of cam plat-es 19 are slidably mounted on said frame 9 beneath the opposite end portions of the hub structure 18 and said cam plates are provided with recesses 20 for the reception of said hub structure 13.

The rear wall 21 of each of the recesses 20 is inclined in order that the hub structure will ride upwardly thereon when the cam plates 19 are moved forwardly in the frame 9. The forward end portion 22 of the cam plates 19 constitute stop means engageable with the hub structure 13 in a manner to limit the rearward sliding movement of said cam plates on the frame 9. An operating yoke is slidably mounted through the forward portion of the frame 9 and has its opposite ends pivotally connected, as at 24:, to the forward end portions of the cam plates 19. Supporting loops 25 (see Figures 3 and 12) are provided on the frame 9 for slidably supporting the free end portions of the arms of the yoke 23.

The intermediate portion of the yoke 23 has formed integrally on its inner side a pair of apertured cars 26 between which is pivotally connected through the medium of a pin and slot connection, the lower end portion of a lever 27 which has an intermediate portion pivotally' connected to the frame 9 as at 28. Substantially inverted U-shaped brackets 29 are mounted vertically on opposite sides of the frame 9 and journaled on said brackets 29 is a horizontally disposed shaft 30 which as best seen in Figure 2 of the drawings, extends inwardly toward the automobile 1 to a point within convenient reach of an operator on the front seat of the vehicle and has fixed thereon an upstanding is operatively connected to the lever 27 through the medium of the rod 33.

An inclined marking fluid distributing pan 34 is operatively engaged with the pcriphery of the marking wheel 15 on the for ward side thereof and adjacent the point at which the same contacts with the road or highway. The fluid distributing pan 3-1 comprises a flat metallic plate 35 which is rigidly supported on the hub structure 13 for movement therewith through the medium of the supporting arms 36. Pivotally mounted on the opposite side of the plate in a manner to embrace the peripheral portion of the marking wheel 15 therebetwecn is a pair of flanges 36 which are operatively connected together at their free end portions by the coil spring 37.

A marking fluid reservoir or tank 38 is mounted in elevated position on the running board 2 or on any other desired part of the automobile and communicating with the bot tom of said tank 38 is a hose 39 which, in turn,

is connected to a pipe 40 mounted on the frame 9. A marking fluid regulating valve 41 is interposed in the pipe 40 for manual adjustment. Also interposed in the pipe 4:0,preferably at a point below the regulating valve a1 is an automatic cut off valve 42 which is operatively connected to the yoke 23 for actuation thereby through the medium of an upstanding arm 43 which is rigidly mounted on said yoke and a connecting link 44. A flexible conduit 45 is secured to the lower end of the pipe and secured to the free end of the flexible conduit through the medium of the multi-Way coupling 46 is a pair of diverging discharge nozzles having flattened free end portions disposed in the distributing pan 34.

In use, the lever 31 is swung forwardly to the position illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings in a manner to slide the cam plates 19 rearwardly to permit the hub structure 18 to drop into the recesses 20 in said cam plates.- In this position the periphery of the marking wheel 15 will be engaged with the surface of the road or highway. As before stated, the sli ling movement of the cam plates 19 by the lever 31 is accomplished through the medium of the shaft 30, the arm 32, the connecting link 33, the lever 27 and the yoke 23. Upon rearward movement of the yoke 23, the valve 42 is opened and the marking fluid will then flow by gravity from the tank 38 through the hose 39, through the pipe 40, it being understood that the manually operable valve 41 has been regulated from the pipe 40, through the flexible conduit 45 and said fluid is discharged into the distributing pan 34 through the discharge nozzle 47. The inclined distributing pan conveys the marking fluid by gravity to the pliable covering 16 on the periphery of the marking wheel 15 and the fluid is evenly spread over said covering. The marking wheel then conveys the fluid to the surface of the road or highway in an obvious manner. The marking wheel is yieldingly maintained in engagement with the surface of the road or highway through the medium of the coil spring 18 and the manner of mounting said marking wheel in the supporting frame 9 in a manner to permit vertical relative movement therebetween and permit the device to operate eficiently to make a continuous line on a surface having slight depressions or rises therein. The spring controlled flanges 36 on the distributing an 34 restrict the application of the marking fluid to the periphery of the wheel, thus preventing waste of said fluid. As before stated, the distributing pan 34 is mounted for vertical movement in unison with the marking wheel and the flexible conduit 45 permits movement of the discharge nozzle 4? with the pan. When the lever 31 is swung rearwardly in amanner to slide the cam plates 19 forwardly to raise the marking wheel 15 to inoperative position out of engagement with the surface of the road or highway, the control valve 42 will be simultaneously closed to shut off the flow of marking fluid from the tank 38 to the distributing pan 34. The frame 9 in which the marking wheel is mounted for rotation may be adjusted laterally with respect to the automobile to adapt the device for use on roads or highways of diflerent widths and the device may be adjusted vertically with respect to the automobile to adapt the same for use with different makes of automobiles through the medium of the slotted brackets 3 and 5.

It is believed that the many ad *anta-ges of a road marker constructed in accordance with this invention will be readily understood, and although the preferred embodiment of the invention is as illustrated and described, it is to be understood that changes in the details of construction may be had which will fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

lVhat is claimed is 1. A road marker of the character described comprising a frame, means for mounting the frame on a vehicle, a marking wheel rotatably mounted for vertical sliding movement in the frame, means for applying a marking fluid to the periphery of the marking wheel, and manually operable means for elevating and retaining the marking wheel in inoperative position in the frame, said manually operable means comprising a pair of cam plates mounted for longitudinal movement on the frame and operatively engaged with the marking wheel, said marking wheel resting on the cam plates, guide loops mounted on the frame, a yoke slidable through the loops and pivotally connected with the cam plates, vertical guides for retaining the markin wheel against longitudinal movement relative to the frame, and an actuating lover operatively connected with the yoke.

2. A road marker of the character de scribed comprising a frame, a rotary marking wheel shift-ably mounted in the frame, a valve controlled conduit for conducting a marking fluid to the marking wheel, and common means for manually shifting the marking wheel in the frame and for controlling the passage of the marking fluid thereto, said means comprising a pair of cam plates mounted for longitudinal sliding movement on the frame and operatively engaged with the marking wheel, a yoke pivotally connected to the cam plates, an upstanding arm on the yoke, a link operatively connecting the arm with the valve in the conduit, and an actuating lever operatively connected with the yoke.

3. A road marker of thecharacter clescribed comprising a frame, means for mounting the frame on the running board of a vehicle for vertical and lateral adjustment relative to said running board, a marking wheel rotatably mounted for vertical sliding movement in the frame, a marking fluid supply tank, a distributin pan operatively engaged with the periphery of the marking wheel and mounted for vertical movement therewith, valve controlled means connected with the supply tank for discharging fluid therefrom into the distributing pan, manually operable means for shifting the marking Wheel to inoperative position and means 0peratively connecting the valved means with said wheel shifting means for actuation thereby in a mannerto control the passage of fluid from the supply tank to the distribut ing pan.

I testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HARRY E. RAIFE. 

